Interview: Andrew Weinreich, Startup Veteran

What problem does Andrew’s Roadmaps solve?

The idea behind the program is that, in order to succeed, entrepreneurs need to have a minimum level of competency in every discipline that they will confront while building and scaling their startups. We provide best practices and plans in all the disciplines associated with the life cycle of a digital startup(e.g. lessons and templates for a business plan, cash flow projections, marketing plan, sales plan, product plan, etc.).

What’s special about you?

I have over 20 years of experience building tech businesses and have gained an appreciation for how planning shortens the overall execution time and reduces risk. I also have a fairly good track record at predicting massive disruptions that are likely to occur in different verticals, whether it has been anticipating the social network, public WiFi hotspots, or mobile online dating.

Why are you doing this?

I throw the Roadmap boot camp because I love working with and helping startups. Often, when I work with entrepreneurs, I learn as much from them as they’re able to learn from me. The reason why I’m doing the podcast is that I’ve found that the best way to understand where the world is headed is to talk with lots of disrupters who have developed specialized knowledge about their particular spaces. Then I synthesize what I learn from them into my own coherent narrative about how I foresee a particular space developing over time. I’m also trying to share with aspiring entrepreneurs promising areas in which they might start a business.

You are the only entrepreneur who shared the concept of the alpha, someone who makes up his mind and who others follow. They put up 10% and nine of their friends follow with the other 90%.

I do believe that most people look to be inspired at work and to participate in teams that are building something of which they can be proud.If you want to be a startup CEO, your first job is to paint a vision and then inspire others with skills you lack to make that vision a reality.

What are some of Andrew’s other pearls of wisdom?

Great founders develop a macro thesis about a space. A macro thesis is a perspective about large trends that are dictating where an industry is headed. Their expertise on the space is more important than their initial implementation. Expertise, or the ability to develop a compelling macro thesis about a vertical, is what allows founders to pivot. One reason to pivot is when you realize your macro thesis needs adjustment.

Great founders all seem to have the right combination of arrogance and humility.

Another topic is how you think and why it’s special. I don’t know what else you have done besides six degrees. How do you determine what to move forward with?

I’ve founded (or co-founded) 7 companies in spaces that I’ve tried to be a disrupter in:

Social networking (sixdegrees)

Bringing WiFi to public places (Joltage)

Online fundraising for political campaigns and non-profits (I Stand For)

The value of your podcast is your thinking, your success and how you are sharing it with others. Are you other future change topics relate around solving your problems. I.e. Manufactured housing vs stick build onsite housing?

No. It’s usually easier to start with your own problems, because you’re likely to have considered a problem for longer and be more intent on solving it.